Anyone who is close to our family knows that Christmas is a very important time for us. Since my siblings and I were children, we learned the value of spending quality time with our loved ones during this very special time of the year. As far back as I can remember, we were always surrounded by family for Christmas and there were unique traditions that we shared as part of this celebration.

Since we are from Spain, my father always makes a huge pot of Paella for us to eat on Christmas Eve. It is a saffron-flavored Spanish dish made with varying combinations of rice, vegetables, meat, chicken, and seafood. You know it is Christmas in our home when the smells of my Dad’s cooking come wafting through the entire house.

We always celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve which is known as Nochebuena or “the Good Night.” After we feast on Paella we enjoy a traditional Spanish treat called turron which is a kind of almond candy. Later on in the evening, we head over to my husband’s grandmother’s house to open all of the presents at exactly 12 o’clock midnight as his family has done ever since they lived back in Cuba.

There is also all of the shopping that takes place to prepare for Christmas in our home. I personally always have my go-to stores where I know that I will be able to find all of the items that are on the wish lists of my loved ones. JCPenney definitely makes life easier as a mom during this hectic time of the year. They are conveniently located about ten minutes from my house by car and you can find me there most weekends leading up to Christmas taking advantage of their great sales.

It seems I’m not the only one who loves shopping at JCPenney! We had over 1300 entries in our JCPenney “Celebrate The Real Spirit of the Holidays” post last month! The lucky giveaway winner, Jason Teffs, was thrilled to win and I’m sure he will be using his prize to purchase gifts for his loved ones this Christmas. JCPenney will be the first retail brand that celebrates what a REAL Christmas is like for Latinos through stories by Latino children and their families. Like Alondra’s parents, we value this special time that we spend as a family and it is something that we look forward to all year long!

Make sure you like the new JCPenney Latino Facebook page to view all of the three Christmas themed videos featuring real people sharing the story of their multicultural families. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the real-life holiday traditions that live in Latino homes in the United States!

Let’s Discuss: What are some of your family’s Christmas traditions?

Disclosure: This is a compensated campaign on behalf of Latina Mom Bloggers and JCPenney. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Comments

You have a beautiful family! We usually have Christmas at my place with my bf’s family over and my brother and sisters. We cook, eat, and later on we open one gift. then when every one goes home we go to bed till 12 am (my bf used to forceus to stay up a few christmas before but now he just wakes us up at 12am) to open our gifts lol

I love hearing about everyone’s Christmas traditions!! My ex-husband is Portuguese and they had their own uniquely cultural way of celebrating on Christmas Eve and it’s one of the things I really miss about being part of their family.

The Paella looks amazing! I’d love to join you for your holiday celebrations, sounds like you have many wonderful traditions! JCPenney’s is on our holiday shopping route, I love the quality of clothing I find in the stores and they carry big and talls, which is a huge plus!

Christmas is very important to my family as well. We usually get together on Christmas Eve for dinner. Since I wasn’t able to spend Christmas with my family the past 2 years, this year we’re going to spend it with my brother.

I love Paella. Christmas is all about family. We are miles away from most of our family so our little family has become very close. It will be great just spending time with my group. We will eat our traditional meal, standing rib roast.

I love to keep my german Traditions alive with my family; we celebrate Advent, have St. Nikolaus Day and instead Santa the Christmas Angel comes and visits on Christmas Eve and delivers presents.. thats just how we roll and that how I want to keep it…thanks for sharing, what a great post..loved the paella